a review of books, websites, movies, or anything worth reviewing with comments about libraries and librarianship

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Audiobook on My iPod: Quick Reviews

During our vacation in Australia and New Zealand and since we got home, I listened to several audiobooks on my iPod. Here are some quick reviews, five stars being the best.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - five stars

Gaiman is a great reader and the story is very inventive. I loved all the ghosts and enjoyed the dramatic tension. It made me wish I could walk around unseen. This book, which deserves all its awards, is great in audio, too.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - three stars

Perhaps I expected too much after all the praise that I've heard. I had to listen to the first couple of chapters a second time to understand what was happening. Once I got into it, I listened faithfully, but when it was over, I started seeing problems with the story and its characters. I feel that despite her humanizing faults, the Lisbeth Salander character is just a superhero, the ultimate hacker who can get any bit of data from any computer without fail. All the women fall for Mikail Blomkvist too easily. In the end, the all powerful bad guy seems pretty clueless. I don't buy it.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - four stars, maybe four and a half

I can see why there is still a long list of reserves at our library. This is a charming story. I liked the many characters and enjoyed learning all the history about the Channel Isles during World War II. It ended just like I wanted. Perhaps I am starting to want gentle reads. If they are as good as this, that's fine with me. Having five readers for the various characters was a nice touch.

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I am a reference librarian at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. I have worked in public libraries in Texas, Missouri, and Illinois. I am interested in promoting reference services and the reading of good books.